Seeing a huge pattern in my eating problem...

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kwohl
kwohl Posts: 58 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am fabulous with my choices until around 3 or 4 when I come home....then I am soooo hungry, no healthy snack satisfies me, and I crave sugar or wine! I realize I have a sugar addiction. I have been reading about this and see a pattern here....I also feel like I am just not satisfied in the evening when it comes to food. I am never "full"....still hungry, but don't want to rack up calories....does anyone notice the same pattern?

I am just starting out and experimenting with what is working and what doesn't....I am going to try to eat more fruit at night and eat a bigger breakfast tomorrow....feel free to troll my diary but don't judge.
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  • melissa6771
    melissa6771 Posts: 894 Member
    edited March 2016
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    That's problem for me too. For some reason when I start eating healthy, it starts to subside. I think the key is keeping your blood-sugar stable. Making sure to eat both a healthy carb and a protein at each meal. I also find that if I eat potatoes and a protein at dinner, I want to eat less after, I am more satisfied. For nighttime I keep popcorn to,pop and snack on, and I have a fiber crispy bar at night. Sort of like I'm eating a candy bar every night.

    I am going to try to peak at your diary. Not sure I know how. Feel free to look at mine too! I don't know if it's public or not. Hopefully it is, if not, let me know. What kinds of foods are you hungry for? What's your calorie goal for a day?

    I'm trying to look at your diary. Says your feed is private? I'm not sure if I'm doing this right.
  • kwohl
    kwohl Posts: 58 Member
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    It's public.....thanks for looking at it....didn't track this weekend but back on it tomorrow....
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I had almost the same problem when I ate (or tried to eat) low fat and low taste. I craved everything sugary, salty, fatty, and believed I was weak-willed. This has helped me:
    Eating the tastiest food I can that doesn't trigger binges, and enjoy it very much.
    Eating a variety of healthy foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, full fat meat and dairy, fish and nuts.
    Having regular meals, portion controlled and containing at least fat, protein and vegetables, and avoiding eating between meals.
    Plan meals and shop accordingly, and cook.
    Learning to recognize and respect hunger and satiety cues.
    Get enough sleep and manage stress.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    I only looked at a few days, but it looks like you are eating very light for breakfast and lunch. That would explain why you are feeling so hungry by the evening. In my experience, when I eat light earlier, I have a harder time keeping on track later in the day. I like your idea of trying to eat more through the day. I didn't look at individual items, just the calorie totals for each meal. Play around with it. Some foods keep me full longer than others.
  • melissa6771
    melissa6771 Posts: 894 Member
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    How are you looking at her diary? When I try to click on her, I get this. What am I doing wrong?

    gj2i7jd9iac5.jpg
  • pvju
    pvju Posts: 115 Member
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    I can get like this too so I try to start eating late morning - less hours left in the day to consume. I also try to keep it lightish most days until later in the day so that I have some extra calories to play with. Is it possible you're tired at that hour? A nap, if possible, might be an alternative to eating.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    melissa6771 wrote: »
    How are you looking at her diary? When I try to click on her, I get this. What am I doing wrong?

    gj2i7jd9iac5.jpg

    You are using the app, you need to look through a web browser.
  • Makaiookami
    Makaiookami Posts: 32 Member
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    So here's the thing. When you are going throughout your day you have 1,000 points of willpower.

    You use a few to a few hundred on your breakfast and lunch. A few to a few to decide if you should flip off that crazy driver or not, a few here, a few there.

    By the end of the day you've spent most of your willpower points probably. Which is my thought process on why you're struggling with your evening meals.
  • melissa6771
    melissa6771 Posts: 894 Member
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    Thank you Queenliz, that was driving me crazy. I did sign on through safari instead. Going through diary now. Did you girls look?
  • cjrito
    cjrito Posts: 8 Member
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    I can relate.....Some days I feel like my food tracker looks like this:
    BREAKFAST - kale smoothie
    LUNCH - quinoa salad and a banana
    AFTERNOON SNACK- licking an apple
    DINNER - two buckets of fried chicken, 21 tacos, 52 spicy chicken wings, 73 sides of ranch, 25 donuts and a bottle of wine
    AFTER DINNER SNACK - cake and bottle of wine
  • pvju
    pvju Posts: 115 Member
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    Cjrito - you're hilarious and i can totally relate!
  • sew205
    sew205 Posts: 34 Member
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    cjrito wrote: »
    I can relate.....Some days I feel like my food tracker looks like this:
    BREAKFAST - kale smoothie
    LUNCH - quinoa salad and a banana
    AFTERNOON SNACK- licking an apple
    DINNER - two buckets of fried chicken, 21 tacos, 52 spicy chicken wings, 73 sides of ranch, 25 donuts and a bottle of wine
    AFTER DINNER SNACK - cake and bottle of wine

    Thank you for making me actually laugh out loud.
  • cjrito
    cjrito Posts: 8 Member
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    FWIW.....I went a month just eating when I was hungry, but trying to skip/reduce various meals, both with and without exercise, and occasionally having what could best be described as "cheat meals" as I felt the cravings to do so. I analyzed the data and saw what was moving my needle; I noticed certain patterns of both bad eating and good eating and used it to set up my "best chance" day. My best overall days (total calories and better quality food decisions/lower cravings) happen to start with low calorie, carb-heavy meals so I am trying to do that starting this weekend. Hopefully it works! But that exact sort of day might not work for you personally, so I advise looking back at all your good days and bad days....and then design a daily plan that seems to be more aligned with the days YOU did well.
  • Sophiareed218
    Sophiareed218 Posts: 145 Member
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    Try eating a heartier breakfast and lunch with about 1/2 of your daily calories. Eat food that will fill you up with protein, complex carbs, and fiber.
    Example: breakfast - two eggs sunny side up with salsa and a piece of whole grain toast ( about 300 calories ) OR nonfat Greek yogurt and 5 strawberries with oatmeal (also about 300, depending on what you use)
    Lunch- turkey burger on sandwich thins bun, a slice of cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, avocado, or any other veggies you like and a squirt of ketchup (about 350 calories) apple slices for a side is about 35-40 calories.
    That leaves you enough wiggle room for a healthy afternoon snack or mini meal ( about 150 calories ) like a fiber one bar and strawberries, or string cheese and applesauce.
    Eating 'filling' foods earlier in the day will keep you from being famished later and wanting to devour the entire contents of your fridge. Plan ahead, and keep emergency snacks available BEFORE you feel starved. It works for me :-)
    Good luck, I hope this helps!

  • PleasantDisarray
    PleasantDisarray Posts: 22 Member
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    I have huge problems with sugar addiction and the times I've been successful in breaking it was just to eat high on the fat and protein. I eat a lot less added sugars when I can have delicious melted cheese or full fat yoghurt instead. Doing it this way, I found I was naturally sated and staying under my calorie goal without a lot of effort, whereas if I eat more than 30% carbs I find myself craving more sugar/carbs and angry at my calorie goal at the end of the day. So my advice would be don't cut the fat and the flavour! Your reliance on sugar may wane.
  • cjrito
    cjrito Posts: 8 Member
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    Sophiareed218 wrote: »
    Try eating a heartier breakfast and lunch with about 1/2 of your daily calories. Eat food that will fill you up with protein, complex carbs, and fiber.
    Example: breakfast - two eggs sunny side up with salsa and a piece of whole grain toast ( about 300 calories ) OR nonfat Greek yogurt and 5 strawberries with oatmeal (also about 300, depending on what you use)
    Lunch- turkey burger on sandwich thins bun, a slice of cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, avocado, or any other veggies you like and a squirt of ketchup (about 350 calories) apple slices for a side is about 35-40 calories.
    That leaves you enough wiggle room for a healthy afternoon snack or mini meal ( about 150 calories ) like a fiber one bar and strawberries, or string cheese and applesauce.
    Eating 'filling' foods earlier in the day will keep you from being famished later and wanting to devour the entire contents of your fridge. Plan ahead, and keep emergency snacks available BEFORE you feel starved. It works for me :-)
    Good luck, I hope this helps!

    Great advice. This also shows why I say "look at what works for YOU". This sort of plan USED to work for me very well, but in recent years I have noticed the opposite holds true, so I am changing it up. For reasons I cannot explain scientifically, I personally actually do BETTER now when I have low morning and totals IF they are low in protein and fat. I know that it makes no logical sense and sophiareed218's advice does, but this is what my body is telling me from the data. Generally, her advice works very well for most people, as I have observed. I am a weirdo. <g>
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    i would go with less fruit at night, more fat and protein.
  • gramarye
    gramarye Posts: 586 Member
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    So, everyone will find a different type of eating that works best for them -- some people need a hearty breakfast and a light dinner, whereas that would make me hangry and doomed to fail. It'll take time to figure out what works best for you, and what your overeating triggers are, and how to plan a day that works for your eating preferences and habits.

    That said, here's what works for me.
    • I don't eat breakfast until 10am, and on weekdays I try not to keep it under about 300 - 350 calories. The size of my breakfast rarely has any bearing on how hungry I am later in the day, and a large breakfast takes too many of my calories.
    • I try to add a fat to each meal. Fat helps me feel fuller, and I like it. Reduced fat things don't make me a very happy eater, and rarely cut many calories, in my experience.
    • I try to plan a lunch in such a way that I have at least 1,000 calories left over for the evening. The more, the better. I may not always eat those 1,000+ calories, but having a nice big buffer to work with allows me flexibility to snack when I get hungry after running, or to have dessert, or to have pizza, or to have a beer with friends if that comes up. I need that or I will falter 9 times out of 10.

    It's just a matter of trying stuff, looking at your eating patterns, and then applying what you learn. It takes longer than I'd like, I've discovered, but it's worth it.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    My willpower also declines as the day goes on, so I have a few strategies. I eat a snack just before I leave work. I have a salad pre-made for dinner in the fridge. I may plan an R & R activity in the evening that does not involve food.

    See, there's a part of you that KNOWS you deserve a break after work, a little de-stressing. You may be able to disrupt old habit patterns by finding a non-food reward.
  • SarahJP20
    SarahJP20 Posts: 6 Member
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    I've only been doing this a while but had my first treat of the week yesterday......Small Affogado. Seemed to hit the spot and not too many calories. :). I've used my nutribullet too when I've felt a hunger pang

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